MicroCephallic:Serious question here: I've suffered from severe major depression for several years. It's so bad that I even had farking experimental brain surgery last year.

Any thoughts about it, either way? Especially, any relevant experiences?

Tread very lightly here. When you're ingesting cannabis you're playing with your brain chemistry. People with existing mental issues risk exacerbating them by introducing new chemicals. Your brain is probably much more sensitive than the average person, you probably have more to worry about in the way of adverse effects versus the average person. If you ever do decide to imbibe cannabis, do so with a trusted family member or friend around.

My 2 cents. Cannabis did not induce depression in me itself, but the habits I indulged in while constantly using cannabis eventually did lead me to some depression as a young man. This happens to a very small fraction of the population (those who become full blown sun-up/sun-down potheads). Some people, those who can't exercise moderation (everything in moderation!), start to engage in cannabis use as an "escape" from your life. Sounds cliche, but when you're baked 24/7, your shiatty job and life situation are furthest from your mind. You can concentrate on your books, your video games, your internet, things you wouldn't otherwise be able to concentrate on. Because if you had a clear head, you'd be out getting a better job and improving your situation. But as long as I had some weed, it didn't matter.

If your curiosity gets the best of you, start with a small hit in good company and see what happens. At worst, youll have ~1.5 hours of uncomfortable thoughts. If you do feel negative effects in the slightest, flush the weed down the toilet and call good riddance. If you do indeed find relief, please try to do so in moderation. This is the difference between having a beer at dinner, and drinking a fifth at home every night.

I've suffered from severe major depression for several years. It's so bad that I even had farking experimental brain surgery last year.

Several people have suggested that pot might provide temporary relief. I haven't found any relevant studies, and my squadron of trusted medical professionals have given me mixed opinions (ranging from extremely negative "it'll worsen your depression" to neutral-but-it's-illegal-so-don't.)

I live in severely conservative Georgia where it's still severely illegal, so that's a risk to consider, too.

Any thoughts about it, either way? Especially, any relevant experiences?

/fwiw, a trusted close relative lives in Seattle, and has offered to help find a source.

I don't believe it's a cure-all, but if you went so far as to have experimental brain surgery maybe it's worth a try. Just because someone says they smoke pot all the time and they feel great doesn't mean it will help your depression.

I've been depressed too and as far as I can tell pot has had nothing but a very short-term effect on it and by "short-term" I mean as long as I was high. And getting high doesn't even always help. I've been very depressed before and smoked pot and the end result was that I was still depressed and just happened to be stoned too.

It's sort of like what Shelby Chong (Tommy Chong's wife) said once. She said pot really helps with PMS. She said her husband smokes it whenever she gets PMS and he says he always feels much better.

I've suffered from severe major depression for several years. It's so bad that I even had farking experimental brain surgery last year.

Several people have suggested that pot might provide temporary relief. I haven't found any relevant studies, and my squadron of trusted medical professionals have given me mixed opinions (ranging from extremely negative "it'll worsen your depression" to neutral-but-it's-illegal-so-don't.)

I live in severely conservative Georgia where it's still severely illegal, so that's a risk to consider, too.

Any thoughts about it, either way? Especially, any relevant experiences?

/fwiw, a trusted close relative lives in Seattle, and has offered to help find a source.

Self medication isn't usually a good option. Having depression and anxiety disorder I can tell you it helped me, but a habit has a way of becoming a problem over time if left unchecked. So its really an individual choice if you feel strong enough to keep yourself in check as you wont have medical assistance in doing so (if you have a history substance abuse in your family history its a bad idea). Each person is unique and it might not help you specifically the way you want. They do have strains specifically for depression, but going through a street dealer you wont have access to that like you would at a dispensary.

Sure, street dealers can enhance their product with any number of value-added supplemental ingredients:Crack, crank, rat poison, sugar, or whatever floats their boat. With legal pot, all you get is the marijuana with natural THC and maybe a few garden-safe insecticides.

Bill_Wick's_Friend:olddinosaur: Good example is Cambodia, where grass is 100% legal, and an ounce bag goes for $1 at the Phnom Penh airport

Really?

I paid 4X that for about a half oz in rural Cambodia! Looked, smelled and had mega-seeds like Mexi-dirt but, unlike Mexidirt, it had a really powerful stoney kick to it. I could have bought that bag for 50 cents and saved myself $3.50!?!

/doesn't exactly feel ripped off

Production cost of marijuana is on the order of 23 cents a pound, not even that much if Mexican labor is used.

Hell, it might not even be that expensive. If I have a big mechanized farm, I am going to sell the stalks for rope, the seeds for a food grain, the leaf for paper and the flowertops for schwag. The profit I make on all the mundane products will more than pay for the cost of cultivation, so the smokable part is actually free. Problem here is, how are you going to compete with me if I sell premium bud at $1.00 per ounce?

Who is going to stand on the street corner all day long selling bags, if all he could make is $1--$2 an hour?

thanks to Medical MJ growers/dispensaries in states other than where I live... the availability of amazingly powerful shiat has exploded its gotten to the point where it's harder to find "dirt weed" than high quality product... which is mostly cool... except that when your paying $80 an 8th weight...baking magic brownies suddenly becomes seriously cost prohibitive.

Something rubs me the wrong way in this article. I'm have a VERY hard time believing that these were all legitimate dealers this author "interviewed". He conveniently made it impossible to verify any of his sources, and the whole thing came off reading like it was done by one of the producers of Reefer Madness.

FishyFred:Because they can't just buy huge machines to automate the process.

Well, good. I like the artisanal touches that go into illegal drugs. That little smiley-face stenciled on to each tab of ecstasy... the baroque charm of the bong you made out of your high school wood shop project... the little pinch of chili powder in your crystal meth. You'll miss these things when Nabisco™ takes over the industry and prices all the craft-drug makers out of business.